The Foundation of Object Guard Training with Michael Ellis

In this 2 hour and 10 minute video, Michael Ellis teaches dog handlers the fundamentals of training the object guard for the various ring sports. The goal of the video is to show dog handlers how to establish a good foundation for this exercises.

The object guard is the most difficult exercise in all dog sports. In a competition the dog is left alone with an object while the handler moves out of site. When the decoy approaches the dog guarding the object, the dog must bite on its own and release without an OUT command.

In this video, Michael will explain exactly what a dog should know before it starts object guard training. You will learn why Michael prefers to begin teaching this exercise at 7 to 9 months of age. We show the very first training sessions on a number of young dogs.

We also show the 3rd and 4th training lesson on Cindy's dog Rush and then the dog in training a year later.

Dogs that start object guard training later in life have often been exposed to a great deal of obedience. When that happens these dogs get "STICKY" – meaning they get stuck on the object and it becomes difficult to get the dog to leave the object to bite the decoy. This is demonstrated by showing a dog that isn’t started until its 18 months old. You will see what happens when a dog "STICKS" and the training steps to help a dog get over the problem.

The end of the video shows Michael Ellis and his dog Pi in an actual Mondioring three competition doing the object guard.

This video will teach trainers how to establish a proper foundation for the object guard. It does not teach the advanced skills needed to finish a dog in this exercises. It can take years of hard work to perfect a dogs skill in the object.